Haitian-born musician Wyclef Jean is emotional while discussing his recent visit to his earthquake-stricken homeland at a news conference in New York on Monday. (Diane Bondareff/Associated Press)

Speaking calmly and firmly, Wyclef Jean refuted weekend reports casting doubt on the finances of his foundation Yele Haiti — one of the most prominent charities raising funds to support his home country following last week's devastating earthquake.

"Accusations have been made about me and about Yele," the recording artist, music producer and activist told reporters gathered in New York on Monday afternoon.

'As a young NGO coming up, have we made mistakes before? Yes. Did I ever use Yele money for personal benefits? Absolutely not'—Wyclef Jean

"I started the charity with my own funds. I wanted to make sure that Yele would not just be a foundation, but would actually be a [non-governmental organization] on the ground in Haiti because it's the only way I could be effective to the Haitian people. As a young NGO coming up, have we made mistakes before? Yes. Did I ever use Yele money for personal benefits? Absolutely not," he said.

A prominent international figure from his days as a member of the hit hip-hop group The Fugees and as a musician and producer in the U.S., Haitian-born Jean has been the leading celebrity figure appealing for aid following the Jan. 12 earthquake that destroyed much of the country's crowded capital, Port-au-Prince. Yele has raised more than $2 million US for Haiti in the week since.

Jean, who immigrated to the U.S. as a teen, described arriving in the "belly of the beast" the day after the earthquake hit.

"I'm not the one that was reporting the news. I'm the one that was carrying the dead bodies on the street. I'm the one that carried little girls to the morgue. And [when] they said 'The morgue don't have room in here'... we carried bodies to the cemetery. From the cemetery, now, they're fighting over the holes: Which body's going to go in which hole," he said.

High-profile partners

Yele president Hugh Locke admitted that Yele, formed in 2005, has made rookie mistakes in some of its financial dealings, including delaying filing tax returns, acquiescing to paying background expenses for a 2006 benefit concert in Monte Carlo rather than push the organizer — a British for-profit company — to cover the costs, and developing radio and TV programming supporting Yele initiatives through a Haitian station owned by Jean.

However, Jean and Locke also emphasized the prominent list of established organizations and major corporate partners with whom Yele has teamed up for the current Haitian relief drive as well as for past educational, sport and agricultural projects. That list includes the United Nations, the Clinton Foundation, the World Food Program and the Pan-American Development Foundation.

Locke also recited a lengthy series of occasions in the past few years when, following disasters, Jean's expertise and access to Haitian local community leaders was called upon by everyone from organizers of the World Food Program to Haitian politicians.

"Wyclef is in a unique capacity to assist in the recovery efforts and the relief efforts in Haiti," Locke said.

He added that Haitian President René Préval and Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive had personally asked Jean to convey internationally the message that survivors in Port-au-Prince need now to be evacuated to outlying areas so that the "morgue" the city has become can be cleared out and the infrastructure rebuilt.

Return to Haiti

Following a cross-network U.S. charity telethon he is set to co-host with actor George Clooney and TV journalist Anderson Cooper Friday evening, Jean is to return to Haiti.

While confident in dismissing the accusations of financial impropriety surrounding his foundation, Jean nevertheless grew emotional when discussing his homeland on Monday.

"My reality is — my people are dying and I have to go back to the ground in a few days for a mission of relief," he said, haltingly, before breaking down in tears.

After addressing the people of Haiti in Creole, Jean translated the message for reporters.

"I tell them that I do not cry for myself, I cry for them. I told them: just permit us a little time. We're going to be back on the ground on Saturday. And we're going to be back on the ground every week until we help the situation," he said.

"We do not have the solution, but we have the start to what I think the solution can be."

UN peacekeepers and Haitian police officers escort, at centre, actor Matt Damon, musician Wyclef Jean and former New Brunswick premier and Canadian ambassador to the U.S. Frank McKenna through Gonaives, Haiti, in September 2008. (Ramon Espinosa/Associated Press)